Finding new value in sustainability

As a global company with 721,000 people, we recognize the scope and scale of our environmental impact. Powered by technology, Accenture is already making progress with a suite of solutions in three core areas:

We are committed to achieving net-zero emissions by 2025. Corporate Services & Sustainability, responsible for all our locations across the world, is active in our plan to meet our office energy needs with 100% renewable electricity by 2023—at the end of fiscal year 2021, 53% of electricity purchased for our offices and centers is through renewable sources. We are actively sourcing renewable electricity as part of Accenture’s participation in the RE100, the global corporate renewable energy initiative bringing together hundreds of large and ambitious businesses committed to 100% renewable electricity. We are also engaged in responsible buying practices, both inside and outside Accenture. To address remaining emissions, Accenture has announced investments in nature-based carbon removal projects which broadly align with our geographic footprint. Our projects will reforest land, rebuild biodiversity, make agriculture more sustainable, help to create green jobs and enable natural ecosystems to rebound and thrive—all while removing an estimated 13 million metric tons of CO2 from the atmosphere.

All aspects of how we run our locations matter, which is why Accenture has committed to reuse or recycle 100% ofour e-waste, as well as all our office furniture, by 2025. To address e-waste, we are working with our global IT assetdisposition partners to implement an asset reuse program and manage our ongoing box program to remotely dispose of personal computers globally. Data from our enterprise asset management system helps us to further manage our e-waste by spotting trends on specific product lines or locations and determining the effectiveness of a particular local waste management policy. We are working with our offices to eliminate single-use plastics by shifting away from single-use items; using non-plastic items, such as bamboo, when disposable products are offered; and providing water refill stations.

Aware of the broader impact we have on the communities around us, we are particularly conscious of water-stressed locations and have committed to develop water resiliency plans for our facilities to reduce the impact of flooding, drought and water scarcity in high-risk areas by 2025. We use the World Resources Institute’s (WRI) Aqueduct tool to identify areas of water risk and impacts to local communities. In addition to developing water resiliency plans, we now measure and report the total percentage of water consumed in regions with high or extremely high baseline water stress. Although Accenture is not a water-intensive company, we minimize our use of water wherever feasible, including responsible use, reuse, management and discharge across our office portfolio. In fiscal 2021, 37% of our company’s total water consumption occurred in high or extremely high baseline water-stressed regions.